January 2009

Last night saw a historic rebellion over Heathrow in parliament. 28 Labour MPs voted against the government's plans to add a third runway to Heathrow - supporting an 'opposition day motion' brought by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. That's a bigger rebellion than we were expecting - it seems that Gordon Brown has a serious political problem over aviation expansion.

A detail from the Heathrow advert we put in the papers today

Tonight the House of Commons plays host to the Heathrow face-off. At about 7pm this evening, MPs will vote on a motion brought by the Tories and Lib Dems against the government's plans for expanding the airport with a third runway and a sixth terminal.

The stage is set for a bit of mud-slinging in the House. It'll probably be made worse by the fact that it's the opposition who has scheduled the vote - the government didn't want to have one. Because of the realities of party politics, even Labour MPs who oppose the runway will think twice about voting for a motion that's been put up by the ‘enemy'.

Red fish alert! Guppies hit the slopes to help promote 'End of The Line' © Greenpeace / Mackenzie.

Update: guppies go skiing - watch the video »

Park City during Sundance is crazy busy. The Main Street, hotels, and carparks are all chockablock, and everyone has a film to sell or see. So, clearly we needed something to attract a bit of attention and make obvious Greenpeace's support for the End Of The Line film. If you've read my previous posts, you'll be aware that part of the solution (after some complicated logistics) involved five Greenpeace US volunteers  plus two red fish suits from Greenpeace Netherlands (thank you guys!).

Brilliant. (And also a pretty comprehensive run through of where we're at with the Heathrow decision.)

Actress Emma Thompson has been helping us oppose the government's plans for a third runway at Heathrow. With a vote on the runway now scheduled for next Wednesday, Emma explains how you can help us make sure MPs who oppose Heathrow expansion follow their conscience and vote against the third runway. 

Heathrow watchdog John Stewart is the chair of HACAN Clearskies, one of Europe's largest aviation groups. Here he gives his reaction to the government's decision to go ahead with the 3rd runway at Heathrow, and why he is still confident that it can be stopped.

In the few days since the runway was given the green light, there has been a massive reaction from all the groups who are opposing it. And the message to the government is very clear. People are very angry indeed. In my opinion there's no question that a lot of individuals will take direct action to try and stop this - local residents have been talking about linking up with Plane Stupid to take action. And I believe we can stop it, because all the other parties in the land are saying that they would scrap plans to build a third runway at Heathrow; there is so much opposition now that even if Labour wins the next election the third runway is likely to be dead in the water.

Orange roughy: live ones can make an unusual contribution to stemming climate change  © Greenpeace / MacKenzie

Dramatic title perhaps, but maybe not quite so far-fetched. Here in sunny Sundance, one of the questions that has been coming up repeatedly at showings of the End Of The Line movie is, "What about climate change?", assuming rightly that a warming planet will have implications for our fish populations too. Well my practised response to this before I got here was simply that the effects of climate change make all of the issues of rapacious overfishing all the more important. They make the need for precaution when it comes to fishing, and the need for fully protected areas essential.

Not green, and not strictly regulated

Last Thursday, while approving the construction of a third runway at Heathrow, Geoff Hoon claimed he was accompanying it with what he called "the toughest climate change regime for aviation of any country in the world." Cleaner planes, tougher regulation, green slots for takeoff and landing - the secretary of state was keen to broadcast the runway's green credentials.

You can understand why it's important for Geoff to make a lot of noise about green planes and strict regulation while cheerleading for a third runway. Pursuing a policy of aviation expansion while committing to an 80 per cent cut in UK emissions by 2050 might seem like a strange thing to be doing, particularly as Lord Turner of the Committee on Climate Change ruled that there must be "clear strategies" in place to cut emissions from aviation, otherwise any cuts made in other sectors will be wiped out.